


His Past Is My Future

by KatsInSpace



Series: Masquerade [3]
Category: Chuck (TV), White Collar
Genre: Amnesia, Established Relationship, M/M, chyce, kind of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-06
Updated: 2018-06-22
Packaged: 2018-07-21 21:29:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 19,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7405546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KatsInSpace/pseuds/KatsInSpace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Neal's back home with Chuck. The thing is, it's not as welcoming as he would have thought.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Chyce, established relationship, sequel to Masquerade, will be changing between Neal and Bryce

Neal was excited. He was _finally_ getting out of his radius, albeit still on anklet, but it was something new, something he hasn't seen. And with _Chuck_ no less? It was amazing.

Of course, Neal is going to miss Peter, El, Moz, June, and all the others, but he has a future in front of him. A future with _Chuck,_ and his _family._

Neal wants to know what his family is like, how is actual self is like. He remembers some parts, but he wants to experience his life with Chuck for himself.

“Are you ready?” Chuck asked. He stopped near a black, nice looking car. He unlocks it.

Neal opens it, getting inside. “As I'll ever be,” he answers as both of them close the door.

Chuck glances over at him, beaming him a smile. “I'll take that as a yes.”

After having put their bags in the trunk, Chuck drives off. Neal only had a few things with him, the essentials, which were personal items like pictures and memories. Chuck had told him that he had kept all his clothes and things from before, and that there was no need for him to get his, or rather Byron's, clothes despite June urging him to keep it.

Other than what he was wearing, Neal didn't really have a lot since his conman life didn't really allow him to have much. Although, he still kept some of his supplies. For no specific reason of course.

Moz would have been very disappointed in him if he had left it.

“Does anyone else know?” Neal decided to ask him.

“Yeah,” Chuck answers, not taking his eyes off the road. “Ellie, Awesome, Morgan, Casey, Sarah, and Alex.”

' _Sara?_ ' Neal thinks to himself.

“Do you recognize any of those name?”

“Only one,” Neal replies honestly. “Sara.”

Chuck hesitated. “Sarah?” He said softly, “Sarah Walker?”

Neal frowned a little, tilting his head in thought. It was clear that they were thinking about two different people. “No, Ellis, the Insurance Investigator.”

Chuck breathed out. “Then you have a lot to catch up on,” he thought aloud. “But I'm still not sure how the General and the Director will react. They know I brought back Neal Caffrey, just not Bryce Larkin.”

“I'm assuming the “general” and the “director” aren't from a game?” Neal joked lightly.

“The uh, they're from the NSA and CIA.”

Neal winces. He knew that Chuck worked with the CIA, he just wasn't aware that he worked with the NSA too. What did that say about Bryce Bartowski? What kind of person was he before?

“Hey uh, Neal?” Chuck asked awkwardly, pulling over in a garage of a cozy looking house. He shuts down the car, pulling out the keys. He shifts over to face Neal, glancing down at his hands for a moment before looking up into his eyes.

“Yeah Chuck?” He immediately picks up on his nervousness and hesitance.

“I uh, well,” he stuttered. “I'm not exactly sure if they'd be okay with calling you Neal.” He paused, taking in a breath of air. “And I'd think that it might help too if we call you Bryce instead.”

Neal glances down at his ring. It would be weird to be called a different name permanently, he would have no problem with it, but it would be odd. He brushes his thumb against it. But it was for Chuck. Neal looks back up at him. “Sure, anything for you.”

Chuck beamed. “Thanks!” He says cheerfully. “I know it'll be weird for you, and don't get me wrong, I love Bryce but I also like you as Neal too, but it's for them. And me, and you too of course.” Chuck spoke quickly, practically stumbling over his words.

Neal notes that Chuck referred to Bryce with “love” and himself with “like.” Honestly, it did kind of hurt but it was understandable; Neal wasn't the person Chuck married, Bryce was.

And Neal desperately wants to be that guy again.

-.-Masquerade-.-

Neal had his bag over his shoulder as he trailed after Chuck. He was careful to avoid Chuck's carry on. He looked around, observing his surroundings. The gate that sectioned off the house from the street had been automatic, Chuck having pressed a button to open it up. There had also been a small gate to the side that allowed people to walk in if they had a code. He assumes that is where the others entered, having been three cars on the street.

Neal walks in their home, seeing six other people, the same ones from their wedding photo.

Neal tries to put names to faces, but he just didn't know. He knew all their names, just not who is who.

“ _Larkin._ ”

Neal stared at the tall, broad man. He looked very intimidating and seemed to be glaring him down. He was also the one that had been standing at his side in the photo. Neal notes that he didn't really seem to like him all too much. Plus “ _Larkin?_ ” He's a Bartowski now.

“Not what I expected,” he muttered to Chuck, eyes still on the tall man in front of him.

Chuck just gave a nervous chuckle.

There were five others that waited in his and Chuck's house. Three females and two males. Neal recognized them all from the photo Chuck showed him. Chuck's sister and her husband. The blonde. And the brunet and brunette, most likely a couple.

They all had different expressions on their face, the intimidating man having looked the meanest of them all.

These people were Bryce's, his, family. And judging from the tall, gruff man, his family wasn't an exception from familial disputes. Neal knows that he is going to have a rough time adjusting from New York to Burbank.

But he knows Chuck will help get him through it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think? Should Neal remember being Bryce or should he not?


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chyce, established relationship, sequel to Masquerade, will be changing between Neal and Bryce

Neal stood directly next to Chuck. He was observing and taking in the reactions and actions in general of his family. He quietly watched, still trying to assess how they are like. It was pretty hard considering they were all hesitant. He could tell that they still didn't believe that he really is Bryce Bartowski.

Neal could also tell that Chuck is extremely nervous. He reaches out for his hand, slipping his own hand into Chuck's and entwines their fingers together. He immediately feels Chuck relax. Neal glances up at him and sees a small smile on his face as he glances back at him.

Chuck takes a deep breath and looks back at their family. “I found Bryce,” Chuck says nervously.

“Yes you did, Chuck,” Ellie says happily. She steps closer to him, a smile on her face. “Welcome back Bryce.” She pulls him into a hug.

Neal does not hesitate, not wanting Chuck's sister to be put off. But he does not say anything either, unsure how Bryce would have reacted to this. Instead, he just mutters, “It's nice to be back.” When they pull away, Neal could immediately tell that that she knew something was off. Something that he wanted to avoid. “Something wrong?” He asks, looking concerned.

She says nothing, looking at Chuck with a worried expression. “What happened to him, Chuck?”

Neal glances at him, afraid that Chuck would be annoyed. But when he sees him, he didn't know why he was worried at all, remembering how much of a good person Chuck is. The other just sighed. Neal glances at the others, seeing a suspicious look on their faces.

“That _is_ Bryce if you have any doubts,” Chuck tells them.

Neal notices that their expressions don't change. Chuck's sister glances back at Neal, still looking concerned.

“Then you want to explain why he's so off?” The tall, intimidating one growls out.

Chuck tenses, sharing a look with Neal. He looks back at their family. “Well,” he hesitated. “Casey-” Neal assumes that it's the tall intimidating one. “Bryce, he,” he hesitates again. “Well-”

“Out with it already,” he commands.

“Bryce has amnesia,” Chuck blurts out. “He's going by another name, Neal Caffrey.”

“Yeah,” the short, bearded one says. “I kind of got that he went by an alias by the clothes he's wearing. I mean, seriously? A _monkey suit?_ ” He laughs it off. “You don't see that in Burbank too often.”

“Morgan,” the brunette scolds softly. “Please be serious.”

“Sorry Alex,” he mutters.

Neal observes their actions together. He tries to get as much information as he can, to be more “Bryce-like.” It also helps that he's learning their names. The last two he assumes, is Sarah and Devon, or “Captain Awesome.” Neal wonders if Bryce ever called him Awesome.

Sarah stared at him with concern. Which is odd considering Neal thought she was CIA too. “Meaning he doesn't remember anything? Nothing at all?”

“Oh man,” Devon, or Awesome, says as he shakes his head. “That must be horrible.”

Chuck just sighs, staring at Neal with sadness. Neal meets his eyes and his heart clenches in pain. He hates that he's the cause of Chuck's sadness. It's not something that he can really help, he just has to wait it out and hope he remembers. And Neal hopes that it happens soon, if ever.

-.-Masquerade-.-

After having a talk with their family, they decided to leave them alone by themselves. Chuck decided to show him around their house again. But the whole time, Neal's mind kept going back to Chuck and Sarah's supposed “private” conversation.

“ _Chuck, I don't think this is a good idea,_ ” Sarah had whispered to Chuck, thinking that Neal had not been able to hear him.

“ _What do you mean?_ ” Chuck asked with a confused look. While this was happening, the others had been clamoring over him.

“ _This is not the same Bryce we know,_ ” Sarah tells him.

“ _What are you saying?_ ”

Neal didn't like what he was hearing at all. It seemed like Sarah wanted him gone.

“ _I'm just not sure if it was good idea bringing him back so soon._ ”

“So this is our living room,” Chuck started off with as they were still standing there, even after they left.

Neal glances around. Along with the couches, love seat, coffee table, and television, there were pictures on the wall. Neal approached them, examining each of them. They were mostly of him, Chuck, and the rest of their family. Though, he could see several others. A few wearing a white collared shirt and another older man and woman.

Neal didn't recognize them at all.

But judging by the picture, meaning it having both himself and Chuck with them, it must mean that they were close. Maybe they were either his or Chuck's parents?

“Bryce?” Chuck asked.

Neal looked over at Chuck, gazing at him. “Who are they?”

Chuck looks over at the picture frame, taking a step closer. “Those are my parents,” he mutters softly.

' _So they're not my_ _parents_ _,_ ' Neal thinks with a little disappointment. He was a tiny bit curious to see if the people he thought were his parents, were actually his or not. And if not, who was his actual parents? “Do they like me?” Neal asks, still staring at the picture of the four of them. He hoped they did. He wanted Bryce to have had a good impression on them.

“My dad adores you,” Chuck answered.

Neal looks at Chuck. Chuck's dad at least liked him, but what about his mother?

“But my mom,” he trailed off, looking hesitant.

Neal doesn't take that as a good thing.

“Well she-” he hesitates again.

“Chuck?” Neal asks curiously.

“She doesn't like that I'm a spy, and that I'm also dating a spy,” Chuck sighs. “And she still doesn't really appreciate you all that much.”

Neal tenses for a moment. “What happened for her to be like that?”

Chuck looks over at Neal again. “You did some stuff, which was completely justified, that she didn't like.” He continues before Neal could ask what. “And I think it's best if you remembered that part yourself.” He turns, walking off to another part of their house.

Neal trails after him, wondering what he could have done to Chuck. It must not have been too bad since Chuck married him and his dad likes him, but bad enough for Chuck's mother to hate him. He did not have a clue what it could be.

“Here's the kitchen slash dining room,” Chuck told him soon after they stepped through the open doorway.

It was a small kitchen. He could tell that Bryce and Chuck did not cook too much. But it had enough room for if they did want to cook. Though, now that he was here, the kitchen would be used a lot more often than usual.

Neal looked at the dining set. It was an eight-seater. He assumes so that their family had a place to sit too. It seemed like it would be used only for special occasions since there was also a few seats at the island.

He also saw the large glass doors that overlooked their backyard. There wasn't much despite the large area. It had a patio with some stuff that looked like it was used for a barbeque, outside seating, and a few trees.

“Do we have parties often here?” Neal decided to ask Chuck.

“No, there's no time for them,” Chuck commented.

Chuck had decided to show him their bedroom last. After explaining things, Chuck said, “I don't know about you, but I'm pretty pooped.”

Neal stood in front of their closed door, shifting uncomfortably as Chuck undressed. Neal had felt like a total stranger in his own home. Even though Chuck showed him around, he didn't recognize anything. None of it really felt familiar to him.

“Are you coming to bed?” Chuck asked, already getting comfortable under the sheets.

Neal glances over at the empty spot, presumably the side Bryce preferred – which also happened to be closer to the door. He looks back at Chuck.

“I should probably go call Peter first,” he told him. “He'd probably go out of his mind worrying about me. The others too.”

Chuck looked at him with understanding. “Okay,” he agreed, knowing he'd some alone time. “Just join me as soon as you're done, alright?”

Neal nodded as he turned around, opening the door. He's taking out his phone from his pocket as he closed the door behind him.

Neal takes a seat in their living room. He pulls up Peter's contact, letting out a breath of air. He leans back, not yet pressing the call button. He didn't really know why he was hesitant to call him, they'd been friends for a very long time and he knew he could trust him. But there was something about being there in Burbank – in a completely different place – that made him not want to call them.

At least not yet.

Neal stared at the pictures on the wall, the pictures of strangers that were his friends and family. He knew nothing of them, not even their name. He hated that he was in a strange place, knowing that it was his home, something he was supposed to know like the back of his hand.

It wasn't a good feeling at all.

And he didn't feel that he could talk to Chuck about it, he might not understand.

Neal presses the call button.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took long, I was too busy with college stuff. Also, it'd be nice to have some feedback.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chyce, established relationship, sequel to Masquerade, will be changing between Neal and Bryce

_It wasn't a good feeling at all._

_And he didn't feel that he could talk to Chuck about it, he might not understand._

_Neal presses the call button._

“ _Neal?”_ Peter's worried and relieved voice came in through the phone.

“Hey Peter,” Neal greeted cheerfully. He was glad to hear Peter's voice, someone he himself knew very well. Someone that he knew could be trusted.

“How's freedom?” He asked lightly with a touch of hurt.

Neal knew that Peter was trying to sound unbothered by the whole situation. “I missed you too Peter,” was Neal's reply. “And I still need to deal with the anklet.” Neal pulled up his pant leg and looked down at it, frowning.

“Really?” Peter sounded surprised. “I thought that your husband would have it off by now.”

“I haven't asked him yet,” Neal said honestly. “Not now though, he wants us to take a nap.”

There was a moment of silence.

“Peter?” Neal called out, wondering if he was still on the phone. “You still there?”

“Uh yeah, yeah,” Peter said oddly. “It uh, I just need time adjusting to everything. It's going to be pretty quiet without you here.”

Neal could imagine Peter sighing as he looks away. He remembers the expression on the agent's face when he looks sad or fond, and he thinks that's what his face looks like right now.

“We'll still see each other, Peter,” he reminded him. “I'll visit every now and then.”

“If you don't forget us first,” he said it as an off-handed comment.

“I won't forget you, any of you,” Neal immediately reassured him. “I still consider you, El, June, and Moz as my family.”

“Where does that leave your actual family?”

Neal attempts to cover his sad and uncomfortable tone with curiosity. “I still don't remember them but they're also my family.” Though he must have failed from Peter's response.

“What happened with your family?” Peter asked in concern.

Neal pretends to be oblivious. “What are you talking about? Nothing's wrong.”

“I know you Neal-”

“It's Bryce now,” Neal corrected him.

“What?”

“Chuck said that it would be better if I was called Bryce.”

“Okay,” he said reluctantly. “I know you _Bryce,_ ” he continues from before. “I know that you're trying to hide how you really feel.”

Neal purses his lips, not wanting to reply.

“Neal,” he said firmly. “Or- _Bryce._ ”

Neal sighs. “I'll tell you, I promise,” he claims. “Just not now okay?”

“Fine.”

“I also wanted to let you know that I got here without a problem.”

“I'm glad.”

“See you later Peter.”

“Good bye Bryce.”

Neal sighs as he ends the phone call. He glances back at the hallway where his and Chuck's bedroom was at. He stays there for a moment before standing.

Neal quietly pushes open their door. He gently closes the door, seeing Chuck fast asleep under the blankets. He toes off his shoes and shrugs off his jacket. He'd rather not sleep in his suit but Chuck was still in his, so he assumed it was fine. He places his suit jacket to the side and slips off his tie. Neal unbuckles his belt, placing it on top his jacket and tie.

Neal turns back to the bed. He peels back part of the blanket and climbs inside, careful not to wake him up. He gets comfy and covers himself with the sheets.

Before closing his eyes, he watches Chuck's sleeping expression, hearing the soft snores coming from him. He looks over his long eyelashes brushing his cheeks and gentle curls laying against his forehead. This wasn't exactly new as he and Chuck shared a bed back in New York, but he still felt as if this was both new and familiar.

Neal closes his eyes, letting sleep overtake him.

-.-Masquerade-.-

Neal wakes up first. Perhaps it was out of habit from working back at New York, perhaps it was just jet lag. Whatever it had been, he gets to wake up to Chuck's peaceful expression. He smiles, brushing his hand against his cheek.

Chuck's eyes slowly open, staring right back at him.

Neal gives him a wide smile.

Chuck smiles back. “I still can't believe I get to wake up next to you everyday again,” he says happily.

Neal doesn't say anything. He just leans forward, pressing a kiss against his lips.

-.-Masquerade-.-

“You're going to work?” Neal questioned. He watched as Chuck got dressed into a white collared shirt and black slacks. “I thought you didn't have to do a mission yet.”

“Oh it's not a mission,” Chuck tells him, as he ties his Black Chucks on. “It's my cover job.” He stands, looking over at Neal. “I can't exactly get money out of nowhere,” he tells him.

Neal assumes that it's because no one can't know about him being in the CIA.

“What can I do?”

“Uh,” Chuck trailed off, trying to think of something. “We have movies and games around the house.”

“I'm guessing I'm not allowed outside,” Neal says, noticing that Chuck hadn't said that he could get to know the town.

Chuck just gave him an apologetic smile. “Not yet, sorry.”

“I'll find something,” Neal said reassuringly. “Don't worry about me.”

“I'll see you after,” Chuck greeted. “We'll have the meeting after work.”

“Bye Chuck.”

Soon after, Neal hears Chuck's car leave the house. He sighs, wondering what he could do.

-.-Masquerade-.-

Neal notes that Chuck looked a bit nervous. “Are you okay Chuck?”

“Huh?” He asked dumbly. “Oh, yeah, sure.”

Neal knows that's a lie. Chuck looked uncomfortable and very unsure. He takes a glance at Sarah and Casey who were standing in the Buy More back room. He still didn't know what they were doing there though. It was a back room, so he didn't know the point of it.

“What are we doing here again?” Neal asked.

“To see our boss,” Chuck answered.

Neal looked at him in confusion. “In the backroom?”

“Just wait and see,” Chuck said with a grin.

Casey just groaned.

Neal stared as Casey pulled open a locker, entering a code. He didn't know why that was there, it didn't really make much sense. When he entered the code, the lockers swung open. He looked at it with awe/ “It can do that?” He asked in amazement.

Chuck looked at him with a smile. “Wait until you see inside.”

Neal peers inside curiously, unable to see from behind Casey and Sarah. He follows behind, bouncing up down in excitement. The FBI place was more of an office, but how would their place look like? Without seeing it, it was already drastically different from the FBI.

Neal looked around in amazement when he stepped inside. There seemed to be a lot more room than he would have thought. There had been a lot of high-tech looking gear that the FBI didn't have. He looks over at the side rooms, seeing a variety of uses for all of them.

“Was this always here?” Neal asks, approaching what looked like one of the computers. He scans it for the possible use for it.

“No,” Chuck answered. “At least I don't think it was.”

“Of course it wasn't,” Casey stated, sounding as if he just rolled his eyes. “ _Don't_ touch anything,” he scolded, suddenly standing next to him.

Neal pulls back his hand, staring at Casey. “Not even one button?”

“ _No,_ ” he says firmly, walking over to a large device that sat underneath an equally as large screen.

Neal sighs, casting one glance at it. He moves back over to Chuck, taking a seat next to him. “So who's our boss?”

“The same one that got you out of the FBI,” Chuck answered.

“The general and the director?” Neal asks for confirmation, remembering what Chuck had told him.

Chuck nods, turning his attention to the screen. Sarah sits in front of them while Casey continues typing something into the module.

“What is he-” Neal stops, seeing the large screen turn on. He's quickly shushed despite already being quiet. All three turn quiet and straighten up, paying all their attention to the screen, so Neal decides to do the same. He turns his eyes to the screen.

“Colonel Casey,” a woman with red hair greeted.

“Mr Casey,” The man greeted.

“General, Director,” he said back.

Neal assumes the woman is the general and the man is the director.

“What is the reasoning for this meeting?” The general asked. They both glance behind Casey and at him. “Agent Larkin?”

Neal doesn't say anything, unsure what to say. He glances at Chuck. Chuck glances at him with a small smile before looking up at the screen. “I found him,” he manages to stutter out. “It's really him.”

The general seemed to have some doubt.

“It really _is_ him,” Chuck repeated. “He doesn't remember much but it _is_ Bryce.”

“Mr Bartowski,” the general started to say, tone showing that she still didn't believe it. “We do not bring strangers into-”

“He's not a stranger!” Chuck cuts her off. This had obviously been out of the norm as the others had look surprised.

The general just kept looking at him with a firm. “Excuse him out of Castle,” she commands, voice as firm as he look.

Neal just glances over at Chuck. When he sees a hurt look on Chuck's face, all he wants to do is bring him close and make everything all right again. “Come on Bryce,” Chuck says as he stands, obediently following her orders.

Neal follows after him, placing a reassuring hand on him.

-.-Masquerade-.-

Neal had waited for Chuck back at their place. After being told to leave, Chuck had told him to take the car and meet him back home. Their meeting had taken a few hours, but whatever they had discussed, had him down.

“Chuck?” Neal speaks gently, seeing him trudge into their living.

Chuck doesn't say anything. He just collapses into the couch and leans into him. Neal holds him close, knowing that he felt very hurt. “I'm not making you up,” he says, voice breaking. “You're here, actually _here._ ”

Neal doesn't say anything, just held him closer.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My tumblr is ElectronicSpace. Criticism welcome.  
> Let me know if you want to see some more of their past and I shall write it.  
> Please leave some feedback, it'd be nice to know if this story is going in the right direction.   
> I'm sorry this took long, I started college two months ago and I barely have time to write any of my stories. I also started writing some other fics.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chyce, established relationship, sequel to Masquerade, will be changing between Neal and Bryce

Neal had woken up before Chuck the next day, wanting to make him breakfast in bed. When they went to bed the previous night, Chuck had still been a little down. Neal had tried all he could – cuddling him in bed, holding him bed, or get his mind off it all together – but nothing helped. He hated seeing Chuck so down and hoped the new day would help make him feel better.

If not, he at least wanted Chuck to have a good wake up.

Getting out a tray, he places the plate of cheese and mushroom omelet. Beside it, orange juice and a small fruit.

Neal heads back to their room, placing it on the nightstand. Chuck shifts, slowly waking up.

“Bryce?”

“Hey Chuck,” he greets as he settles down next to him. “I made breakfast,” he grabs the tray after helping him sit up. “I made you breakfast.”

Chuck smiles, making Neal smile in return. “Thanks Bryce,” he says happily. “This is new.”

Neal knows that Chuck means that Bryce, _he,_ has never done this for Chuck before. He thinks that it's because that Bryce never knew how to cook, not because he didn't want to. He remembered Chuck being surprised that he knew how to cook.

Chuck cuts into it, eating a small piece. “Aren't you going to eat too?”

“I already had,” Neal replies.

“Don't you want some?”

“Thanks but this is all for you.”

Chuck beams at him, making Neal glad that he was able to bring back that breathtaking smile to his face.

-.-Masquerade-.-

Neal waited around their place again. After the whole situation yesterday, Neal still hadn't been allowed to do anything. He had to stay until at least next week. Chuck had told him that if it hadn't been sorted out by then, Chuck said that they'd figure it out for themselves.

At work, which was apparently called the Buy More, he was a white shirt, but now he'd be a green shirt. He didn't know what that meant but Chuck would just tell him when he got there.

Again, he didn't really know what to do.

Neal got up, walking back into the kitchen. He opens the fridge, pouring himself juice. He brings the glass back to the living room.

Before he could take a seat, he sees someone already there.

Neal stops, unsure who could have been there.

“Imagine my surprise-” they start.

“Moz?” Neal asked, approaching him.

“-when I go see my best friend, only to hear that he's moved to California,” Mozzie looks up, staring up at him.

“Hey Moz,” he greeted unsurely.

“I had to hear it from the _suit,_ ” he emphasized.

“Uh yeah,” Neal trailed off, pausing. “I would have told you but you weren't in town.”

“Did you even tell _June?_ ” Mozzie asked as he stood, holding a glass of what seemed to be the wine.

“Of course I did,” Neal said, slightly offended. He eyes, wondering where had gotten the wine glass as he had not seen one.

“So I'm the only one you never told,” he said blankly.

“I'm sorry Moz,” he said genuinely.

Mozzie just sighs. “I'll will forgive you, eventually,” he tells, making Neal give a small smile. “How long is you staying here, anyway?” He takes a sip of his glass.

“I'm staying here permanently.”

Mozzie's eyes widen and he sets down the glass, almost spitting it out in shock. “I'm sorry, I thought I heard you say that you were staying here _forever._ ”

“That's because I am,” Neal answered calmly. He would go visit everyone in New York every once in awhile but Burbank is his permanent residence from now on.

Mozzie kept staring at him with wide eyes. “ _Why?_ ” He demands.

Neal took a step closer. “Apparently, what I thought was my past isn't,” he answered. “My life is here Moz,” he says with a smile. He liked being with Chuck, although, he did miss everyone at New York and he still felt as if he didn't fit in.

“What about New York?” Mozzie persisted. “What about _me?_ ”

“You could always stay here too,” Neal offered. Though he wasn't sure he ever would. “You know cons hardly ever get the chance to settle down,” he motions around his house. “Here, I _have_ that chance again.”

Mozzie sighs, seeming to give in. “You mentioned something about your past not being what you thought it was?”

Neal nods. “I'll get to that later,” he says. “Do you want to meet him?”

“Him who?”

“My husband.”

“Your _what._ ”

“Maybe I should explain things to you first,” Neal trailed off.

“Yeah, I think that would be best,” Mozzie replied sarcastically.

-.-Masquerade-.-

“I still can't believe you're married,” Mozzie shakes his head before drinking more wine. “Clearly the married life has already changed you.”

Neal looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “What makes you say that?”

Mozzie sets the glass down, staring at him. He doesn't say anything, motioning to his entire body.

Neal frowns, looking down at his clothes. His eyes look up, head not moving. “Chuck likes this,” he comments. It was very different than his usual – suits and dress shoes – and was wearing a silk shirt, jeans, and shoes.

“Of _course_ it's because of Chuck,” Mozzie sighs.

Neal holds back a glare. “Why do I feel as though you don't like him?”

“How can I not like someone I've never met?” He asks, avoiding to answer the question.

“You didn't answer the question.”

“I'll hold my opinion for now.”

“You want to meet him?” Neal asks. He would want his closest friend and his husband to get along. He wouldn't know what to do if they didn't get along. Neal would rather not have to decide between them. “He should be coming home soon.”

Mozzie sat there for a moment. He glances over at the wall of photos. “Is he one of them?”

Neal stands, nodding at Mozzie to follow him. He stands before one of the photos, looking right at the photo he was originally shown before. “That's him,” Neal points to Chuck standing next to him in their wedding photo. Neal stares at the photo with a smile.

After a few moments of silence, Neal looks over at Mozzie. He had been oddly silent. “Moz?” He's silent for a few more seconds.

“He's not what I expected.”

“What did you expect?”

“Someone more-” he trailed off.

“More-?”

Mozzie shrugged. “Less like him,” he sighs.

Neal holds himself back, trying not to look offended. “Are you sure you don't want to meet him?” Neal asked.

“The real question is,” Mozzie asks without answering him. He looked as if he were staring Neal down. “Whether or not you'll be okay here. You _look_ fine.”

“Of course I will be,” Neal says, looking at him oddly. “Why wouldn't I be?”

“No reason,” he comments. “I do have to admit though, while reluctant to say, you _do_ have a nice place here. Other than the bookshelf, you two have a good taste in decoration.”

Neal glances at the empty book shelf. There wasn't much on it but it was out of the way and tucked into a corner so he didn't really bother with it. “Thanks,” he said looking back at him. “But I don't know who did the decorating.”

“Which means you have some work to do,” Mozzie comments, picking his glass back up and takes a sip.

“Since you're here,” Neal says, changing the subject completely.

“I _knew_ you just couldn't live with out me,” he said with a smirk.

Neal chuckled. “Well, what would I be without my best friend?”

“Hopelessly lost,” Mozzie says. “Now, what is it that you need?”

“I told you before that I wasn't who I thought I was?”

“Considering it was hardly three hours ago, of course.”

“Well his bosses don't believe I'm back and they-”

“Surprise, surprise,” Mozzie said blankly.

“And they don't want to help out. So I'm still officially dead,” Neal paused, hoping Mozzie would get it.

“Ah,” he said in understanding. “So you want me to make it so that you _are_ alive?”

Neal nods. “Maybe like slipping it to news outlets or hospitals,” Neal suggests.

“I'll do what I can,” he says, standing as he set his glass back down. “This is me.”

“Will you come by and visit again?'

“Eventually.” Mozzie greets him goodbye as he walks out the door.

Neal glances at Mozzie's half full glass of wine, wondering where Mozzie had gotten that.


	5. Chapter 5

Neal sat on the couch, the television turned onto the news. Mozzie had informed him to keep the channel on the news for the next few days. He said that he had managed to leak to the news outlets that Bryce Larkin had been alive – and _really?_ He died in a car accident? – and would probably get phone calls piling in.

“ _How about a feel good story for you all?_ ” the news anchor says. “ _Previously believed-to-be-dead Bryce Bartowski is actually_ alive!”

“ _What?_ ” The second news anchor exclaimed in amazement. “ _Really? That's amazing! How is that even possible?_ ”

“ _Apparently, he had been in a hospital under an anonymous name “John Doe”,_ ” the first answers. “ _They don't mention the name of the hospital_ _though._ ”

“ _His family must be so glad to have him back,_ ” the second news anchor comments.

“Finally,” Neal mutters under his breath, turning the tv off after that segment was over.

Neal was finally able to get out of the house. He was starting to get extremely bored just sitting around doing nothing. Three months ago, he wouldn't have believed anyone – even Peter – if they had told him that he would get sick of freedom. Having nothing to do got tiring. Neal liked it at first, not needing to do anything, but he eventually got sick of it.

Now that he could get out, he didn't know what he was going to do. There was a lot of places to go, but Neal decides that he was going to visit Chuck at his work.

-.-Masquerade-.-

Neal had known the time Chuck usually took his lunch break. He had gotten calls from him every single time since Neal had gotten back. Chuck had told him that he usually ate at a sandwich shop near by since he still had no idea how to cook.

Ten minutes before Chuck's lunch break, Neal gets to the Buy More. Not many people really pay attention to him, that is until, he gets to the building.

Holding a container, Neal waltzes in through the front. Before heading over, Neal had made Chuck lunch. He scans the place, looking for him. He grins when he sees Chuck working the front desk under the “Nerd Herd” sign. He strides over, holding Chuck's lunch.

Chuck had been on the phone, conversing with a customer as he typed something up. Next to him was a short man with greasy-looking hair, a similar uniform on.

The other man looks up first. He looked familiar. Neal is pretty sure he was on one of the pictures on their wall. The man's eyes grow wide, dropping what had been in his hands. He just continued to stare in shock as Neal approached the table. As Neal got closer, he started to slap Chuck on his chest.

Chuck just kept talking on the phone, slowly inching away from him. He frowned slightly, glaring at him as the man didn't stop. When he hangs up the phone, he looks at the man, muttering something. It's not long before the man is pointing at him and Neal is standing before Chuck.

Chuck looks over at him.

“Are you seeing what I'm seeing?” The man asks in a shaky voice. “Is that your dead husband?”

Neal looks at him with a questioning look. That was very insensitive.He looks back at Chuck with a smile.

“What are you doing here?” Chuck asks, sounding a little panicked and surprised.

“I made you lunch,” Neal sets the container onto the counter.

Chuck peeks inside, opening up the container. Neal hoped it was something that Chuck would like. A simple Alfredo Fettuccine pasta with chicken and mushroom.

“Wait, wait, hold up here,” the man says, cutting Chuck off before he could say anything. “Chuck,” he hesitates. “Who's this?” He points at Neal. “Is this who I think it is? Because it can _not_ be who I think it is.” He notes that his nametag had “Lester” on it.

“Depends on who you think I am,” Neal said lightly.

“Well _I_ think you're Bryce Bartowski, Chuck's dead husband,” Lester says with panic. The expression on his face was tight, looking as if he was ready to bolt out of there any moment and scream about zombies. “Emphasis on the _dead_ part.”

“Then that would be right,” Neal replied with a grin.

“Bryce!” Chuck scolded softly. “You're not supposed to tell anyone.”

Neal chuckles. Even if he said he wasn't who he was, he had a feeling Lester wouldn't accept his lies.

“So what, you weren't going to tell anyone?” Lester looked at Chuck accusingly.

“He's still officially dead,” Chuck answers him. “You have to go Bryce.”

“Have the remote for the tv's?” Neal asks.

Lester, still in shock, nods while he stares with wide eyes. He doesn't take his eyes off him as he hands Neal the remote.

Neal takes it, ignoring Chuck's exclaim of confusion. Neal flips through the station, searching for a news outlet that hopefully hadn't aired the segment yet. It doesn't take him long to find one.

“What is this?” Chuck asks, staring at the screens.

“Just watch.”

“ _In other news, Bryce Bartowski, who was thought to have died in bank robbery five years ago, has been found alive as “John Doe” in an undisclosed hospital. The weather today is-_ ”

“See?” Neal says. “It's fine Chuck.”

“But how-?” Chuck didn't get the chance to finish when others started to crowd around.

“Bryce!” Neal hears people exclaim. “I can't believe it's true!”

Neal turns, leaning his arm against the counter. He looks over to see practically the entire store clamoring all over him. He inches back a little, overwhelmed at all the attention. He fakes his comfort, not wanting them to know that he didn't recognize any of them. He gives them a smile.

“Believe it or not,” he says, trying to act as if everything's normal. “I'm back.”

“Like, from the dead?” Lester asked. “It shouldn't even be possible!”

“Well, it is,” Chuck says, walking over to join him at his side.

“Must have had a _lot_ of fun, huh?” Jeff asked, hinting at what Neal is pretty sure was a sexual innuendo.

Chuck flushes red, confirming his suspicion. “Th-that isn't any of your business,” he stuttered.

“You two haven't even done it yet?”

Neal watches in amusement as Chuck's face goes completely red. He doesn't say anything as Chuck just stutters out something incoherent.

“Come on,” Neal finally spoke up to keep Chuck from even more embarrassment. While it looked cute, he didn't want Chuck to panic even more. “I just got back, don't you think I'd want to rest first?”

“And what better way to welcome you back than to-”

“Okay!” Chuck interrupted, stopping the conversation from moving further. “That's enough. Bryce, can I talk to you? Privately?” He asks the last question, sparing a glance at his co-workers.

“Sure,” Neal nods, going with him very willingly. He trails after Chuck, the latter taking his hand to lead him away into the breakroom. “What is it? I didn't do anything wrong, did I?” He refused to panic, to think that Chuck could possibly hate him.

“No no,” Chuck insisted. “I just wanted to ask what brought this up.” Neal looked at him with confusion. “What I mean is, how'd you do it? How'd you get the general to agree to do this?”

“It wasn't the general,” Neal answered honestly. He's not going to lie to Chuck, not ever. “I uh, I had a friend do it for me. I hope that's okay.”

“Hey, they got it done before the government did,” he says with a smile. “It worked out in the end. In fact, I think it's even better this way.”

Neal frowned a little, staring at him with a confused expression. “Better?” He questioned. “How?”

“This way,” Chuck starts to explain. “You don't have to keep working for the government if you don't want to.” He pauses. “I'd prefer it if you don't actually, it's safer this way for you.”

Neal would have said something if it were any other conversation, but he could see the pain in Chuck's eyes. He knows that Chuck was thinking about the time he had died in front of him. It was understandable that Chuck would want to protect him.

“I'd rather not be a spy either,” Neal tells him. “No offense Chuck, but violence isn't really my thing.”

“It's not mine either, but it tends to get pretty bad sometimes.”

“Worse than the Buy More,” Neal asks in a light tone.

Chuck laughs. “I don't know,” he draws on. “The Buy More can get _pretty_ bad. And that's on good days.”

Neal grins. “Do I get a bit of leeway on my first day back?”

“It's the Buy More,” he says as if it's an answer. He continues when Neal just raises an eyebrow. “No, I don't think they'll give you a break. It'll be like you never left.”

“I don't know whether to be glad or panicked about that.”

“Glad,” Chuck stated surely. “It means they're welcoming you back to the family.”

Neal gives a wide grin.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's no good excuse why this took so long.


	6. Not an update but still important

I just want a count of how many people are still reading this, if anyone still is. If not, I'm just going to discontinue jt.


	7. Chapter 6

_The music rang out in the ballroom, resonating beautifully. The couple of the night danced in the spotlight, all eyes on them. The night of a union becoming official in the eyes of the law, another about to emerge._

“ _Want to join me?”_

_Chuck stared up at Bryce, eyes widening in surprise. “Wha-?” He glances down at the hand Bryce had extended. He looks back up at him. “Join you? For what?”_

“ _A dance.”_

_Chuck hesitates, looking unsure. “Dancing's really not my thing,” he says slowly._

_Bryce sighs, taking his hand._

“ _Wai- Bryce!” Chuck yelped, almost tripping over his feet._

_Bryce leads him to the dance floor. He stops, facing Chuck as he gently takes him by the arms, pulling him close._

“ _What's with the sudden reaction?”_

“ _I'm tired of waiting,” he says firmly, gazing at him with eyes full of emotion. “I'm tired of waiting for you to see how I feel about you.” He pauses, looking at Chuck with intense passion, hoping that he'd finally see that he truly meant it. “I'm_ here, _Chuck. I'm truly_ here _for the first time. I'm not expecting you to return my feelings but I needed you to know this before I leave.”_

“ _You're leaving?” Chuck asks, holding back his hurt. “I thought you were staying.”_

“ _The general wants me back out again,” Bryce answered him._

_Chuck stared at him, eyes growing wide and watery. “I thought you were going to stay this time.”_

_Bryce shook his head. He takes a deep breath, glancing to the side for a moment before looking back at him. “I need to know Chuck,” he says, intent in his eyes. “Do you feel the same way I feel about you?”_

_Chuck doesn't hesitate and nods. “Yes, yes I do,” he says, voice full of emotion. “I love you too.”_

_Bryce smiles, giving a small chuckle. “You don't know how long I've waited for you to say that,” he shifts, moving closer to Chuck. “Chuck,” he says softly, leaning close. “Can I kiss you?”_

“ _Please,” he says quickly._

_Bryce closes the distance between them, standing up straighter to meet Chuck._

-.-Masquerade-.-

Neal shifts, finding himself unable to move. He doesn't have to look know that it's Chuck tightly wrapping his arms around him and pulling him close. He doesn't move, only adjusting his position to move closer to him. He closes his eyes again, drifting back to sleep.

-.-Masquerade-.-

“I think it's better if you work as a Green Shirt.”

Neal stares at his old Nerd Herd uniform. He winces, imagining himself working on computers. He may have known them before, but not now, he had no clue whatsoever. It'd be an absolute disaster; while he knew how to fake it, people would actually _need_ their problems solved. So he really wasn't the best option for it. “Yeah, I think so too.”

“There should be some new uniforms laying around,” Chuck says. “Big Mike had kept a few in the storage room so there should still more there. And then we can just order you some more.”

“Help me out with the store?” Neal wears a small grin, a hopeful look on his face.

“Of course,” Chuck says without hesitation.

“A 9 to 5 job should be pretty interesting,” Neal notes. He never really had a “normal” job before, so this was going to be a new experience for him. He already had on his dress shoes for the day. Chuck suggested to wear sneakers so it's comfortable for him, but he was already used to those kind of shoes. It was a regular thing for him.

“You'll get used to it,” Chuck noted, fixing his tie.

After a moment, Neal asks, “Big Mike?”

“He used to be the manager,” he answered simply.

Neal looked at him, frowning a little as he tilted his head slightly. “What happened?” He asked in a confused tone. “Did he get demoted?”

“Nothing too bad, he just wanted to step down,” Chuck answered. “Turns out, he prefers to be on the floor, says being the manager put too much stress on him. He's actually pretty glad Morgan is the new manager now, but he also says that he wouldn't have been his first choice.” He lets out a laugh. “I do admit that Morgan could be a _little_ irresponsible at times but he's surprisingly good at running the Buy More.” There's a pause as Chuck looked over at Neal. “Don't tell him I said any of that, he'd be really offended at me.”

Neal chuckles. “'course not Chuck, you have my word.”

-.-Masquerade-.-

“Welcome to the Buy More, do you need help finding anything?”

Neal originally thought that working there would be very easy. It was a routine that was easy to remember and the customers wouldn't be that hard. As a con man, he's dealt with so many different types of people that the customers wouldn't be all that hard. He could deal with them easy.

It was just everything else that was insufferable. The routine got so repetitive that he was going crazy just saying “Welcome to the Buy More, do you need help finding anything” over and over again, having to smile all the time was just fine but there were customers that made him pretty uncomfortable.

“So when do you get off?”

“Sorry?” He asks, pretending to not know what they were talking about.

Neal just couldn't believe how many people would flirt with a married man.

And how many people would just keep leaving things everywhere. He kept constantly having to return things back to where they belong only to find something else was out of place. Then there were customers that tried to shoplift. Casey mostly handled them but they were still pretty annoying.

Then there were _those_ customers.

The customers that kept insisting that the “customer was always right.” He previously believed that it was a true statement but not having to experience it on the shop assistant's point of view, they were _horrible._

“It was _much_ cheaper over at the Large Mart! And I know for a _fact_ that this is _much_ higher than the actual price, it said so on google!”

“No, check the back room! It says it's in stock, so check the back room!”

They just kept on demanding and demanding more and more things, thinking they knew everything and were the center of the universe. And then there was that they thought the shop assistants had to bend to their every well and acted as if they were below them.

Neal has encountered people who wanted to hurt him, even wanted him dead, but sometimes, the customers could be a lot more cruel than those he had met before.

So any chance he got to step off the floor, he took it.

“Hey Skip! I need this over at-”

“I got it!” Neal says eagerly, rushing over to Morgan.

Morgan looked unsure. “No, Skip should do it, you're still adjusting-”

“No no,” Neal insisted. “I got it, you don't have to worry about me.”

“Are you sure?” He asks unsurely, not wanting to let go of the package just yet.

“I'm sure Morgan, I could deliver a few papers just fine.”

“Alright,” he reluctantly handed it over.

Neal just smiled and turned away a bit to eagerly. He just wanted to get away from the store for at least a _moment._ And delivering that to the post office would give him the perfect opportunity to.

“Just don't be too long, alright?”

Neal's already out the door, breathing a sigh of relief. He liked being out of the house but he was pretty glad to be out of the Buy More. Chuck had been right, the Buy More _could_ be overwhelming.

“They already have you on the 9 to 5?”

Neal glances to his side, seeing a short man with glasses and a fake brunet wig. “What are you doing here?” Neal asked. “I thought you'd be miles away from this place already, it's not your kind of place.”

“And leave my best friend to fend for himself?” Mozzie commented. “Ha! I think not.”

Neal gave a small smile. “I appreciate the thought but you know I can take care of myself.”

“Oh please,” he scoffed. “When you're in love, you're completely thrown off your game. And who'd watch over you if I were gone?”

“I don't want to leave you grounded,” Neal says genuinely. “Especially in a place you don't like. And I doubt the _Buy More_ has anything life threatening. Yes, it gets pretty bad, but not dangerous bad. And if there were any bad guys, I have Chuck and co here to protect me.”

“I don't mean _them,_ ” Mozzie says. “I mean _them._ ”

Neal furrowed his eyebrows at him. “What?” He asked, not really getting what he meant.

“They know you're not completely yourself,” Mozzie started to explain. “They could easily use you by claiming that you did it before. Look where you are now! The man I knew a week ago _wasn't_ married.”

Neal stops, getting a little annoyed. “Chuck wouldn't take advantage of me,” he said firmly, turning around to face Mozzie. He soon realizes that Mozzie had silently slipped away. He sighs as he shook his head, returning to go find the post office once again.

Neal just didn't get why Mozzie thought Chuck was a bad person. If he met him, then Mozzie would realize that Chuck's a good person. He wasn't trying to get rid of Mozzie, he just wanted him to stop thinking so negatively of Chuck.

-.-Masquerade-.-

“So how was your first day back?”

Chuck and Neal had gone to a Chinese restaurant, one that Chuck had said he really liked – Chuck, not Bryce. So Neal decided to give it a try.

Neal swallowed the food in his mouth. “Do you think I can get away with claiming I need more time to readjust to get a day off?”

Chuck laughed. “The manager's my best friend,” he comments. “So I don't think that would be necessary.”

Neal stared at him. “Chuck!” He says in false accusation. “You didn't abuse your powers as best friend to get a day off, did you?”

“What?” Chuck exclaimed. “No!” A pause. “Maybe,” he said a bit softer.

Neal chuckles. “Relax, I'm only kidding.”

“To be fair, you did the same thing too.”

Neal laughed. “We're terrible workers.”

“Hey! That's only you, I'm a valuable worker.”


	8. Chapter 7

“I _still_ can't believe they're making another Star Wars movie!”

Morgan couldn't keep still, he was bouncing in his seat, bubbling with excitement. According to him, he had been waiting for this for 84 years – even though he's only like what, 30? He didn't know what that meant but he's assuming that's a joke between him and Chuck.

“I can't believe there's another movie!” Morgan repeated excitedly. “Can you believe there's another Chuck? I can't believe there's another!”

“Disney owns Star Wars now,” Chuck commented. “Don't be surprised if it doesn't hold to your expectations. You've seen Tangled, right?”

“It's _Star Wars,_ ” Morgan whispered softly after being glared at by some of the other patrons. “Who cares! _God_ I can't wait for this! What about you Bryce? I know you're more of a Star Trek fan but you _must_ have watched it at some point, right?”

“Uh,” Neal said unsurely. He may have watched it before he lost his memories but when he met Chuck again, he only watched Star Trek so far. He glanced at Chuck unsuringly,“Yeah.”

Chuck nodded, subtly telling him that he did watch Star wars before.

“Glad to know Chuck didn't disappoint!”

-.-Masquerade-.-

“I can't believe that reveal!” Morgan exclaimed, walking out of the movie theater. “But that guy? _Seriously?_ ”

“I think that's kinda the point,” Chuck commented. “You'd expect more of a hard-ass-”

“Like Casey?”

Chuck laughed but immediately stopped himself. “Don't let him hear you say that,” he warned. “But you'd expect someone more forceful and not so-”

“That?” Morgan finished.

“Yeah.”

“What about you Bryce?” Morgan asked. “Your thoughts?”

“Well,” Neal really couldn't compare it to anything else or any of the other movies. “The whole reveal didn't really catch me off guard to be honest-”

“What? Really?” Morgan asked, sounding surprised. “How were you not surprised by that?”

“Believe it or not, but I've met people like that,” Neal commented. “You can't just count someone out just because they don't look the part. That's how you get conned.”

“How would you know-” Morgan looked confused for a moment before shaking his head. “Right, I almost forgot, sorry.”

-.-Masquerade-.-

Neal stood around, helping the customers with what they needed and scanning a few of their items. He noticed Sarah and Casey watching him a few items but mostly ignored them. He knew that Casey didn't like him and that Sarah didn't trust him; he wasn't going to pay them any mind when he knew they were set on their thoughts of them. Neal has met people like them before and he knows that almost nothing will change their minds.

“Have a nice day,” Neal greeted them once he was done packing their things away. He steps away from their cash register, walking around again to help the customers. In the corner of his eye, he sees Casey chase away another shop lifter and Sarah watching him from afar.

Neal doesn't make it obvious that he's watching her too. At least, not at first. He would glance every now and then through out the week, noticing that she would be there at least once a day.

Eventually though, he did get sick of it.

“Did you manage to find what you needed?” Neal asked casually, as if she was just a customer. “I've noticed you coming in through out the week,” he commented, still sounding as if she was just a customer.

“I didn't think you would notice,” Sarah said.

“I may have forgotten all my CIA skills, Sarah,” Neal started. “But I have learned a few of my own through out the years.”

Sarah said nothing, just looking at him with a firm look.

“I know you don't like me,” Neal pointed out. “But try not to be too obvious about it, okay? I don't want Chuck panicking about how we don't get along.”

Neal turns after that, not wanting to see Sarah's reaction or hear her reply.

-.-Masquerade-.-

Neal doesn't know whether or not Casey ignoring him completely is a good thing or not. He could tell Casey never liked him from the start but he doesn't know if Casey ignored him before too. So it could be a good thing that he's ignoring or a bad thing.

“Did Casey _ever_ like me?” Neal asked Chuck one night, when they were having movie night.

“Honestly?” Chuck asked. “No, he hasn't. At least, not that I know of.”

“So,” Neal said slowly. “Him ignoring me is a good thing?”

“Oh he's not ignoring you,” Chuck said with a laugh.

Neal frowned a little, a bit confused. Casey has yet to talk to him whatsoever and only glares at him from afar. He doesn't go even _stand_ near him. “Are you sure about that?”

“That's how he always is,” Chuck commented. “Except with Alex. But other than his daughter, he doesn't talk to anyone. Not much anyway.”

“Hooray?” He said unsurely, mostly focused on the thought that Casey was a _father._

So good or bad thing; Neal still didn't know.

-.-Masquerade-.-

“Have you seen John?”

Neal looks up to see one of his family and slash or friends. She was there when Chuck had brought him back from New York. He's pretty sure her name was Alex.

It takes a moment for him to remember that John was Casey's first name. “You mean your dad?” He asked her. It was odd for her to call him that rather than “dad.” Maybe there was something else that had gone on? Casey really didn't seem like the dad type either. “I think he's moving some things at the back, why?”

“I just needed to ask him something,” she takes one step but lingers there. “You're-” she hesitates. “Fine with calling him my dad?”

“Is he not your dad?” Neal pondered. “It's just, Chuck called you his daughter and I just assumed that-”

“He is,” Alex interrupts. “It's just,” she hesitated again. “You never liked it when I called him that around you before.”

“That was before,” Neal stated.

“Okay,” she said unsurely. “I'll just go find Joh- my dad,” she said. “Oh, and uh, Morgan said to tell you to get the “mountains by the seas.””

Neal frowns. “The what?” He asked, very confused. He couldn't physically _get_ mountains, and he wasn't aware of any play sets that _had_ mountains by the sea.

“I don't know,” she shrugged. “When I asked him what that was, he said you'd know.”

“But, I _don't_ know.” He said to no one in particular, Alex already gone to find Casey. “ _What_ mountain by the sea?”

-.-Masquerade-.-

“I'm glad you two had time to come over.”

Ellie and Devon – Awesome? – set down the trays of food. They take the seats across from them, a smile on their faces.

“Sorry I've been so busy lately,” Chuck said. “The General wanted us to do some things and that had taken up a lot of our time.”

Neal didn't know what thing they were doing but he just nodded along.

“So, Bryce,” Ellie says gently. “How have you been adjusting?”

“It's been good,” Neal says somewhat honestly. There was problems but he wasn't going to talk about it, especially not around Chuck. “Still getting used to having to work in the Buy More again; the customers can get a bit much.”

“You're handling Jeff and Lester pretty well,” Chuck commented.

“Are they always like that?” Neal asked with a laugh.

“Pretty much.”

“Nice to hear you're adjusting!” Devon exclaimed. “Now that you're back, how about we spend some bro together again? Your favorite football team is playing in a few weeks and I managed to score some tickets. How about it Bryce?”

“I'm more of a baseball fan,” Neal answered. “But I'll still go with you if you want.”

“Well uh,” he said, a bit surprised at first. “Okay. It's in three weeks. We'll meet here and head over.”

“I can't wait,” Neal said with a smile.

-.-Masquerade-.-

“I just need to do something over at Castle, okay?” Chuck looked at him, keys in hand. “Sorry I can't stay for dinner.”

“It's fine Chuck,” Neal tells him. “I'll see you tonight okay?”

“Bye Bryce,” he greeted.

 


	9. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: references to alcohol abuse

“ _I just need to do something over at Castle, okay?” Chuck looked at him, keys in hand. “Sorry I can't stay for dinner.”_

“ _It's fine Chuck,” Neal tells him. “I'll see you tonight okay?”_

“ _Bye Bryce,” he greeted._

-.-Masquerade-.-

Neal sighs, locking the door behind Chuck. He goes back to eat his dinner. Taking his seat, he stared at the plate at the other side of the table. “It's going to get cold,” he commented softly, taking a bite of his food.

After having been there for awhile, Neal got used to it. It was a regular occurrence to not have Chuck around for dinner. But despite knowing Chuck was more likely to be out rather than eat in with him, Neal still made dinner for the both of them.

“Alone again?”

Neal doesn't bother looking up, knowing Mozzie was standing there, somehow getting passed their security once again. “Hey Moz,” he greeted. “Care to join me?”

Moz takes the seat in front of him. “Anyone eating?”

Neal waved his hand, allowing him to eat the food. It was better than just leaving it in the fridge for who knows how long. “Any reason you're here?”

“I was around,” Mozzie said vaguely, eating a bit of the food. “So, where's the husband?”

“Work,” Neal said.

“What kind of wine is this?” Mozzie asked, taking a sip.

“Just some cheap red wine from the store,” Neal tells him. “I haven't had the chance to get the good stuff yet.”

Mozzie doesn't say anything about the wine and just sets the glass on the table. It's clear though, that he didn't really like the taste. “At least his wine collection is somewhat decent, you could have gotten that.”

Neal looked at him, tilting his head in confusion. “His what?” He hadn't seen any alcohol the whole time he was here.

Mozzie stared at him, a plain look on his face. “You're kidding me, right?”

Neal just stared, still confused.

“Neal. There's a whole _room_ full of it, _how_ have you never noticed?”

Neal glanced around the house, not knowing what Mozzie had been talking about. He'd explored the house quite a bit while sticking to the living room and kitchen. The entire he had been there, he had not seen any rooms with alcohol.

“The _basement,_ ” Mozzie said with disbelief, shaking his head.

“I didn't even know we _had_ a basement,” Neal said with a scrunched up face. “Chuck never told me about it.”

“Probably with good reason,” Mozzie says, standing from the table. He leads him over to the slightly empty bookcase.

Neal stares at the book case that had been pushed to the side. He looks at it with disbelief. He couldn't believe that he never noticed the door behind it. The bookcase had been tucked away in a corner with hardly anything on it, so he hardly ever looked at it, but he still should have seen it.

“What do you mean by that,” Neal ducked his head as he followed Mozzie down the stairs, the room lit by the light switch at the top of the stairs. He looks around when he gets to the bottom, confused. It had been a pretty large room with half the room full of bookcases filled with wines and other alcohol. The other side had a bunch of empty bottles and other storage and supplies.

“It's a complete mess!” Mozzie exclaimed, shaking his head.

Neal kept silent. He knew what all this meant. Now that he thought back on it, the door behind the bookcase was a hastily done job. There wasn't much on the bookcase because it was new. Chuck tried to hide it because he hadn't wanted Neal, or Bryce rather, to find this room. In any other circumstance, he would have been scolding himself for not noticing an entire room, but the contents inside was much more important.

Neal eyes the boxes of empty wine bottles and other alcoholic bottles tucked away in the corner. A few of the bottles and some books were sprawled laying about in the middle of the room. They looked almost empty next to the open books.

Neal stared, not knowing how he should feel about everything. He takes another step toward everything, just taking it all in.

“Neal?” Mozzie called out, knowing how he was feeling.

“What-” he says, not sure what to say. “Why did he hide this from me?”

“Judging from the large amount of empty bottles and garbage wrappers?” Mozzie noted the mess in the room. “And essentially the _entire_ room? He probably didn't want you finding out he was a slob.”

“Chuck's not a slob,” Neal cuts in. “He's not,” he denied again. “He doesn't seem like the type. Everything else in the house is clean and organized!” Neal argued, storming to go look around the room.

He looked at the shelves of wine, both filled and unfilled. He sees that Chuck, or _they_ really, had quite the wine collection. But Chuck and Bryce hadn't been experts in it because he could see that some were forgeries – almost flawless ones – and many others were easily obtainable ones. Some wines, despite claiming so, didn't actually have a good taste.

“Probably because he threw it all in the basement,” Mozzie muttered to himself before going after Neal.

Neal notes that there were quite a few empty, hard liquor bottles. Along with those, were empty wine bottles and just regular beer bottles. Neal sighs, trying to think what this could mean. _Other_ than the blatantly obvious one, but Neal could not believe that was it, there _had_ to be something else.

Neal stops at the things in the middle of the room, scrunching up his nose at the old contents in the bottles. He stared at the books.

It was quite the assortment. Comic books, novels, photo albums, and a few handhold games.

Neal opted to look at the photo albums. Maybe they could tell him something about the whole situation.

“I know what you're thinking Moz,” Neal comments. “It's not what you think.”

“Sure it isn't,” Mozzie says with doubt, standing next to him as Neal crouched, looking at the photo albums.

“Mozzie,” he says firmly, looking up from the photo albums and at the man. “The photos? They're all of _me._ ”


	10. Chapter 9

“ _Mozzie,” he says firmly, looking up from the photo albums and at the man. “The photos? They're all of me.”_

Neal kept quickly scanned the photo album. They looked as if they were all different points in Chuck's later life, but the only thing that they all shared in common, other than Chuck, was that he was in all of them.

“So?” Mozzie didn't seem to think was much of a big deal. “You're bound to have photos of yourself somewhere.”

“Mozzie,” Neal said firmly. “You have to remember, I was gone from Chuck's life for five years.”

Mozzie sighed. “Neal, I know that you just think it was a one time thing during the fourth stage of grief,” he started to reason. “But for all you know, his habits could have passed onto now! And he could still be abusing alcohol.”

“The whole time I was here, I haven't even _seen_ Chuck come close to a drip of alcohol.”

“Unless he's hiding it from you.”

“He's _not,_ ” Neal denies. “How he acts is nothing like who person that _is_ acts. Have dinner with us one night,” Neal suggests. “And you'll see Chuck really isn't a bad person.”

“Fine,” Mozzie gave in. “But don't think I won't be keeping an eye on you.”

“I'll be fine Mozzie,” Neal insisted. “But I appreciate the thought.”

-.-

“You'll be free tonight, right?”

“I should be,” Chuck looks at Neal as he tied his tie. “Something on your mind?”

Neal fixed his socks before placing his feet on the ground and standing up. “I do actually,” Neal goes close to Chuck, gently pushing his hands away to fix Chuck's tie. “I want you to meet a friend of mine.”

“Okay,” Chuck agreed, watching his hands as Neal made a knot with his tie. “Anyone I know?”

“You haven't met him yet,” Neal tells him, finished with the tie. “He was out of town when we were last there.”

“Should we just have dinner here or somewhere else?”

“Is here at home alright? I'll even make dinner.”

“Yeah, sure.”

-.-

Neal, like every night, cooks dinner for three this time. He's really hoping that Chuck isn't called away again. Luckily though, when he has dinner all ready, Chuck is still sticking around.

“So tell me about your friend,” Chuck asks, looking at him curiously.

“Well he's-” Neal hesitates. He wasn't entirely sure what Mozzie would want to say to Chuck. “Unique. It's best to see him for yourself.”

“If you insist.”

“And Chuck?” Neal asked hesitantly, sitting across from him.

Chuck looked at him, knowing that Neal was going to ask him a serious question. “What is it, Bryce?”

Neal hesitated. “You won't lie to me, right?”

“Not unless it's related to government things,” Chuck says honestly.

“I saw something yesterday,” Neal started slowly. “After you left.” He paused again, looking very serious. “Chuck, why didn't you tell me about the basement?”

Chuck falters, looking a little sad. “I-”

“I'm not mad Chuck,” Neal tells him calmly. “I just don't appreciate being lied to.”

Chuck looked ashamed. “I'm sorry,” he says softly. “I just-” he hesitated. “I just didn't want you finding out about what happened, about what I did.”

“Chuck, I understand,” Neal says calmly. “You thought I was dead for five years,” he moves over to the seat next to him. He looked at Chuck with a caring look. “Just tell me one more thing, tell me that you're still not drinking.”

“I'm not. I promise you that I'm not.”

Neal looked into his eyes, seeing his sincerity. “I believe you.”

-.-

It's not long after their conversation that Mozzie arrives. “I'm glad you came.”

Mozzie nodded, glancing around the room and watching his surroundings. His eyes stop on Chuck, and he stares cautiously.

“Uh hi,” Chuck greeted, standing nervously as he approached Mozzie. “I'm Chuck, Bryce's husband.”

Mozzie just looked at him at first, silently judging him. “Dante,” he greeted, shaking his hand reluctantly.

Neal could see the doubt on Chuck's face. Instead, Chuck chooses to ignore it. “Okay,” he says hesitantly.

Mozzie doesn't say anything else, still staring at Chuck which had made him very uncomfortable to the point that he didn't know what to say. Neal decided to cut through the tension and speak. “Well, I made some pasta with shrimp,” he spoke up. “I hope that will be alright with you.”

“It's perfectly fine,” Mozzie follows Neal to their dining table, taking a seat.

Neal takes a seat, sitting down next to Chuck. It was clear to him that Chuck was very nervous, and did not want to mess up his meeting with his friend.

“So uh,” Chuck said nervously. “What do you do?”

“Things,” Mozzie said vaguely, not saying anymore. He eats the pasta, being both intimidating and private.

Neal sighed, turning to Chuck. “He's an investor,” Neal tells him. It's not _technically_ a lie, just was a bit more vague and general than what Mozzie really did. And that's not something he think Mozzie wants anyone else to know.

“Oh cool,” Chuck says, a bit impressed. “I never really got investing, but I always wanted to know what it's like.”

“It's a careful but dangerous business,” Mozzie explains. And Neal knows that he means both investing and the con life. “You got to be smart about things and expect the unexpected. You have to know what's safe and what's not.”

“Seems risky,” Chuck said hesitantly.

“Big risk, big reward.”

Chuck nods thoughtfully.

“Enough about me,” Mozzie says. “What do you do?”

“Uh,” Chuck hesitates. “I'm a computer expert.”

“Mh-hmm,” Mozzie looked at him suspiciously. “Anything extraordinary?”

“No,” Chuck denied. “Just IT.”

Neal knows that both of them were suspicious of the other, that they knew the other was hiding something. They never said anything about it, just kept eating as they subtly stared at each other in suspicion.

-.-

Neal doesn't know how it happened, but Chuck and Mozzie somehow start to get along. He thinks it's because they both were able to pick up that the other had secrets but still respected each other to not bring it up, and their shared love of technology.

“It's a terrible idea all around,” Chuck says, shaking his head in disapproval.

“The typical human being does not see the danger in this,” Mozzie says in agreement.

Neal's glad that they're getting along but he's not sure what to think about their friendship.

“It's been a night,” Mozzie brings up, standing up. “It was a pleasure.” He looks at Neal. “He's good,” he said simply before leaving the house.

-.-

“Want to tell me what that was about?” Chuck asks, as he dried off the dishes, putting them back into their proper place.

“He's protective,” Neal tells him, handing him another dish.

“Ah,” Chuck nods.

“By the way, Chuck?” Neal asks hesitantly.

“Hmm?”

“About the basement,” he could see Chuck tense up in the corner of his eye. “I saw some photo albums down there,” he looked at Chuck, taking a small pause from washing the dishes. “I was wondering if we could look at some of them? Maybe they'll help.”

“Uh yeah,” Chuck says quickly. “Of course.”

Neal gave him a smile before returning to the dishes. “Great.”


	11. Chapter 10

“ _About the basement,” he could see Chuck tense up in the corner of his eye. “I saw some photo albums down there,” he looked at Chuck, taking a small pause from washing the dishes. “I was wondering if we could look at some of them? Maybe they'll help.”_

“ _Uh yeah,” Chuck says quickly. “Of course.”_

_Neal gave him a smile before returning to the dishes. “Great.”_

Neal and Chuck had gathered all the photo albums and placed it onto their dining table. They spread them out, Chuck first taking one of the other albums first, pushing the other ones aside.

“Here,” Chuck says, opening it up to about half way.

Neal watches as Chuck flips through the album, quickly scanning the pictures that flipped by. When Chuck stops flipping through it, he stares at the page of pictures. He looks at the first picture of himself. It was back at Stanford, and he was laying on a bed with Chuck, studying a textbook together.

“This was back in Freshman year,” Chuck tells him. “We were studying for finals together.”

Neal could tell they were doing something very important from how stressed out they looked. “We went to Stanford together, right?”

“We did,” Chuck answered. “I majored in Computer engineering **(1)** -”

“Really?” Neal was impressed.

“Yeah, but of course, you _had_ to be an overachiever and triple major _while_ being in both the gymnastics team and the track team,” Chuck says jokingly, no malice in his voice.

Neal can't believe he did all that. He can't possibly fathom balancing all that work with two clubs. Just imaging how much classes he had per semester along with practices and competitions of his other two clubs? He imagines that he never really had time for anything else.

“And that's not even mentioning all the stuff you had to do as an agent during our Junior and Senior year-” Chuck stops suddenly, his joyful laugh stopping.

Noticing Chuck had stopped, he looks up from the photo album, seeing a slightly tense look on his face. “Chuck?” He asks with worry in his voice. “You okay?”

Chuck swallows heavily. “Yeah,” he gave a small smile. “Just fine. Let's uh, let's just keep looking through the album.” He pointed out another picture, acting as if he was fine. “And this is your first gymnastics competition. I remember you inviting me to it and me not knowing what was happening but still cheering you on.”

Chuck flipped through the album, telling him about each picture and the general time it had been taken. None of them really ring a bell and he's still not really remembering anything. He wants to tell Chuck that none of it is really working but the excited and fond expression Chuck has on his face makes him reluctant to do so.

“And I remember the brothers doing this at-”

“Chuck,” Neal says hesitantly, knowing he would have to tell him.

Chuck stops, looking at him. “Yeah Bryce?”

“I-” he breathes out, looking at Chuck in his eyes. “I'm still not remembering anything, I'm sorry Chuck.”

Chuck's smile falls before he looks away. “It's alright,” he says softly. “You can't help it.” He looked back up at him. “Let's just try this at a different time, alright?”

“Yeah, sure.”

-.-

Chuck was a little off but nonetheless, still acted the same. Neal knows that it was the disappointment of the photo albums being useless that made him a little off. Chuck was sad and he knew it, but Neal knows the only way of cheering him up is to remember who he was.

Neal sat next to Chuck, trying all he can to make sure Chuck was happy. They were watching Star Wars this time. He had already caught up on all the Star Trek things but now, he needed to catch up on Star Wars. But his attention was divided between both the movie and Chuck.

Despite Chuck insisting he was fine, Neal wanted to make sure he was.

-.-

Neal knows that Chuck was expecting for him to remember at least _something,_ but no luck. Neal still didn't remember anything. It seemed that the only way for him to remember is for it to come naturally like in his dreams.

Neal sighed, flipping through the photo album again.

He hadn't been able to sleep, so instead, he was going over the photos in the living room, hoping _something_ would come back to him. He tried, staring at each individual photo but nothing came to him. They were all just foreign looking photos with either him, Chuck, or the both of them in it.

Neal closes the album, deciding it wasn't going to help him to just keep staring at them. He stands, moving back toward his and Chuck's bedroom to try another chance at catching some sleep. He's walking as quietly as he can, not wanting to wake Chuck up.

When he's outside their door, he starts to gently push open the door. He stops when he's in the room, frowning a little as he closes the door. “Chuck?” He asked cautiously, hearing soft sobs coming from the bed. He rushes over, seeing Chuck curled up into a ball, buried under the blankets as he clutched onto Neal's pillow. “Chuck!” Neal went to Chuck's side, holding him close. “Chuck, what's wrong?”

Neal's chest felt tight. It hurt to see Chuck even the least bit sad, let alone crying. Chuck already suffered enough those past years he was gone, he didn't need anymore sadness in his life.

“I-” Chuck sobbed, turning into him. “I-I thought you were gone again. I thought I dreamt everything up again and you were still gone.” Chuck held onto him, crying into his shoulder.

Neal wrapped his arms around him tighter, noting that Chuck had said “again.”

“Please don't leave me alone again.”

“I won't,” Neal promised. And he's going to keep his promise, to ensure Chuck never has to deal with the pain of waking up alone ever again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1) – I'm not sure what he majored in so I kinda guessed


	12. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> College happened again and I barely managed to write this on bus rides and just before class.

_ “I-” Chuck sobbed, turning into him. “I-I thought you were gone again. I thought I dreamt everything up again and you were still gone.” Chuck held onto him, crying into his shoulder. _

_ Neal wrapped his arms around him tighter, noting that Chuck had said “again.” _

_ “Please don't leave me alone again.” _

_ “I won't.” _

-.-

“Hey  _ Bryce _ .”

Neal looks up at Morgan, raising his eyebrow at the odd, sing-songy voice. “Yes Morgan?” He questioned. 

“You know the thing about the thing that someone told you before?” He asks very vaguely, sounding as if he was trying to be subtle.

Neal stared at him with confusion. “I’m not sure I know which thing you’re talking about,” he trails off, hoping he will elaborate.

“ _ You know, _ ” he says just as vaguely. “The  _ thing _ .” 

At this point, Chuck looks up, the conversation now gaining his attention. 

Neal sighs. “Morgan,” he says firmly. “I have  _ no  _ clue what you’re talking about right now.”

Morgan sighs, shaking his head in disbelief. “Remember when I had Alex tell you something?”

Neal thinks back for a moment. “You mean the m-”

Morgan cuts him off, shushing him to be quiet. He glances around before leaning in closely. “Dude! It’s a codeword for a reason.”

Chuck frowns at them in confusion, looking as if he wanted to know what they were talking about. 

“Now did you take care of it, or what?”

“You’re going to have to clarify on what that thing means,” Neal tells him calmly. “I know I’m smart, but even  _ I _ can’t figure it out with no context.”

“You know how  _ beautiful _ the sea can?”” He asks softly.

Neal nods, not sure where this was going. 

“And it’d be a darn right shame if something were to block your view,” he continued to explain.

“What are you getting at?”

“Just think about who told you that phrase,” he says. “Very carefully. Who told you?”

Morgan told him that phrase but Neal is assuming he doesn’t mean him, so Alex? Judging from the first time they met - or at least the first he remembers, he’s pretty sure they are dating. So is it safe to assume that Morgan means he wants to go out with Alex but Casey is in the way?

“You want me to distract Casey?”

“Yes! Exactly!  _ Now _ you’re getting it.”

Neal stared at him. “I don’t know if you know this or not but Casey isn’t exactly my biggest fan.”

“You’ve done it before,” Morgan pointed.

“But I’m not the same as before, I can’t do what I did before.”

Morgan didn’t seem fazed though. He just leaned away, shrugging as if he was giving up - but Neal knew he wasn’t. “I guess you're right,” he says in a blatantly fake, defeated tone. “I guess, the famous conman, really  _ can’t _ do everything.”

Neal wasn’t going to fall for it. He knew what Morgan was trying to do. “I guess I can’t,” he says with a shrug, wearing an expression that said “what can you do.”

Morgan exaggerates a sigh, taking a step away. “And Chuck was really looking forward to that double date to the ice rink and that new ice cream.”

Neal purses his lips. But it seemed like Morgan knew exactly what to say to get to him. 

He exaggerated another sigh, slowly walking away. “Too bad these last four tickets will go to waste.”

Neal sighs, giving in. “Fine, I’ll do it.”

Morgan turns around, wearing a big grin. “Thanks buddy! You’re a  _ great _ pal; so kind, so thoughtful, so  _ caring _ .”

Neal stared at him with an annoyed look.

-.-

“Wanna help me with something?” Neal asked Lester one afternoon. 

“Depends what it is,” he says thoughtfully. 

He had noticed that he was looking pretty bored and from the stories Chuck had told him, he would be willing to do some pretty crazy stuff. “It’ll help you get out of work for awhile.”

“I’m in!” He exclaims eagerly. “So what are we doing today? Making a delivery? Doing some personal errands? Anniversary gifts?”

“Distracting John Casey.”

“ _ And _ I’m out,” he says without hesitation.

“What, you don’t want to get out of work?” 

“Not if I have to face him!” He exclaimed, a fearful look in his eyes.

“You're not really scared of him, are you?” Neal is aware that Casey has a pretty terrifying reputation but he didn’t think he was all that bad. 

“Bryce, I know it has been a while for you, but you seriously can not have forgotten what he has done.”

“You’re kidding, right?” He asked with disbelief.

“I am  _ not _ kidding. Call me afraid, call me a chicken,” he exclaimed. “But you can’t call me stupid enough to face that giant lug!” He turns away, abandoning his station at the Nerd Herd and leaving it empty.

Neal sighs. Looks like Chuck might have been exaggerating a tiny bit when it came to Jeff and Lester. He thought for sure they’d help out, but both of them already bailed out.

“Were you really asking  _ his _ help to deal with Casey?”

Neal already knows it’s Sarah before turning around. “So what do you propose?” He asks, raising his eyebrows slightly. 

“You could just ask him.”

“I already  _ did _ that, he just glared at me and walked away.”

“I don’t know what you did before, but all I know is that you used gummy bears.”

Neal stared at her. Was she trying to mess with him? She didn’t seem like the type, but she could be considering her view of him.

“Gummy bears?” He questioned.

Sarah nods. “Casey always seems more annoyed and more isolated than usual.” 

Neal isn’t really sure if he can trust her word on it, but he still says, “Thanks for the advice.” Before he gets to even turn, Sarah interrupts. 

“And um, Bryce?” Sarah says hesitantly. 

Neal looks at her. He knew she was still reluctant to call him that. “Yeah?”

“I don’t hate you,” she says. “I’m just trying to look out for Chuck.”

-.-

Neal decides to try out Sarah’s suggestion anyway. He buys the five pound gummy bear and brings it to the Buy More. People give him looks for it but he ignores them, looking out for Casey.

When he finds them, he gets him alone, bringing the bear with him. “Hey, Casey!” Neal greets with a friendly smile.

Casey glares at him, eyeing the bag suspiciously. “What Larkin.”

“I know you don’t like me so I decided that maybe a gift would help relieve the tension between us,” he pulled the gummy bear out of the bag. “I asked around and someone suggested gummy bears.” 

Neal immediately notices the subtle change in his expression. “I never took you for the type but I suppose they’d know you better than i do.”

Casey stared at the gummy bear before another moment before reluctantly accepting it. He grumbled something incoherent before walking away. 

Neal folds up the bag, turning and walking away. 

Now, he just needed to see if that would work or not. 

-.-

“Dude!”

Neal looks up to see Morgan grinning at him. “I knew you could do it!” He exclaims. “Whatever you did worked,” he says a little softer. “Looks like we’re going to the skating rink tonight!”

“I’m looking forward to it,” he says with a smile. Though, it has been awhile since he has gone skating, so he’s not sure how it will go. 


	13. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't actually know anything about Alex, so I’m kind of making it up as I go

“Are you ready?”

Neal checked himself in the mirror one last time, making sure nothing was out of place. He fixed his jacket one last time.

“They're not gonna care what you look like, Bryce,” Chuck tells him. 

“What can I say, I just like looking my best at all times,” Neal smiled, giving a casual shrug. 

“You always look good,” Chuck said without hesitation. 

Neal looked up at him, quirking a smile.

After a quick moment, Chuck seemed to realize what he said a flushed red. “I mean,” he stumbled over his words. “What I meant to say was, um, uh-”

Neal chuckled, giving a big smile. He leaned in, pressing a brief kiss on his lips. “I get it Chuck.”

Chuck, still slightly embarrassed, gave a shy smile. “How about we uh, go meet Morgan and Alex now?” 

“Let’s go.”

-.-

Chuck drove to the ice rink. 

Neal hadn’t know where the place was. That, and he wasn’t exactly an expert at driving. He never had a lot of chances to drive so he was very out of practice. The same for skating too.

“Oh come on!” Morgan shouted from the rink. 

Neal laced up his skates with the help of Chuck. He stood, trying to get used to the skates again. 

“Are you good?” 

Neal takes a few more moments. “Yeah, I think so.” He follows after Chuck, careful not to make a misstep. The moment he stepped onto the ice, he almost slips.

Chuck catches him in time, helping him stand up. “Are you alright?” He asks, slight panic in his voice. 

“I’m fine,” he says with an embarrassed smile. “Just a bit out of practice.”

“I thought you were great at skating.” Morgan and Alex come skating close to them. 

“It’s been awhile,” Neal argued lightly. “Cut me some slack.”

“You don't have to skate if you don’t want to,” Chuck says with a worried expression. 

“I’m fine,” Neal claimed. He didn't want to look bad in front of Morgan and Alex. That, and he knew Chuck was looking forward to this, so he didn’t want to ruin it for him. “I just need to get used to it again and I’ll be okay.” 

“If you insist,” Chuck says reluctantly. 

Morgan and Alex skated off, having a bit of time to themselves to let him and Chuck get themselves together. Alex looked as if she did this a lot and skated almost flawlessly, while Morgan wasn’t the greatest, it was clear he was a lot better than he was.

Neal followed after Chuck, who was skating at a slow pace so he can keep an eye on him. When he slips again, Chuck isn’t there fast enough to catch him.

“Seriously Bryce,” Chuck says as Morgan and Alex skate closer. “We can just go play in the arcade if you don’t want to do this.”

“I wasn’t forcing you to skate when I invited you here,” Morgan tells him. “You two can go to the arcade while we skate,  then we can just have ice cream together after.”

“Besides, it's not exactly easy to have a conversation when skating,” Alex pointed out.

Neal looked up at Chuck. “Is that alright with you? I don’t want to be the reason you don’t skate.”

“I’m not that big on skating,” Chuck tells him honestly. “I don’t mind playing in the arcade the whole time, in fact, I might even prefer it.”

“Then we’ll do just that,” he made a mental note to practice his ice skating skills. 

Chuck grabbed his hand, leading him back to the non-slippery ground. “Come on Bryce.”

Neal gladly let Chuck lead him, not tugging his hand away from him. Somehow, Chuck holding his hand makes him less prone to slip. 

Once off the ice, they take a seat to remove their ice skates. They return them and get back their shoes from the locker. “I’d suggest to eat, but I want to save some space for that ice cream.”

“I think we can eat a bit before the ice cream,” Neal commented, because it’s just going to be a scoop or two, it’s not  _ that _ much.

Chuck grinned. “Oh trust me, you’re going to want as much space as possible.” Chuck bought some tokens, placing them in a cup. “How about we kill some zombies?” He pointed to the co-op machine in the back.

“Alright.”

Chuck inserted the tokens for both of them. “Sometimes Morgan and I come in to play this game, but we could never get to the end,” Chuck says as he picks up the blue plastic gun. 

Neal follows suit and picks up the red one. “Maybe we can do it together.”

Chuck gave a reluctant smile. “No offense Bryce, but Morgan and I have honed our skills to a  _ tee. _ If he and I can’t do finish it, I don’t think we can either.”

Neal cocked an eyebrow, giving an amused smile. “Your zombie-killing skills must be impressive.” 

“The best around,” Chuck claimed,  pointing the plastic gun at the screen, selecting the button that said “ready.” 

Neal did the same, pointing his attention at the screen. 

They get lost in it. Neither of them are site how long they're there playing that game, amongst many of the other ones,  but they know it's long enough for Morgan and Alex to check up on them. “Having fun in here?”

Chuck looks at them in surprise before checking his watch for the time. “I didn’t even realize we took that long.”

“I hope you two are still hungry,” Morgan announced. “Because it’s time for ice cream!”

-.-

Neal hadn’t ever seen someone look so excited about ice cream before. He initially thought that that it was their love of ce cream, but as it turns out. It was the ice cream itself. 

Neal stares at the monstrosity that is the ice cream as two people bring it in, setting it on the table. He now knew why they only ordered one. “ _ This _ is the ice cream you two wanted?”

“What,” Morgan said with a smirk, picking up his spoon. “Can’t handle a bit of dessert?”

“A  _ bit? _ ” he questioned with a concerned look. “I think this is more than “a bit.””

“Well,” Morgan said casually, if you can’t finish it. He wore a grin, “Just leave it to me and Chuck!” He stuck his spoon in and took a bite. 

Alex laughed. “Like you two could ever finish it,” she said as she shook her head. She looked at Neal. “They do this all the time, Bryce,” she tells him softly. “Morgan claims they can finish an oversized dish of something, but only end up eating like a fourth of it.”

Neal chuckles at her comment. “Glad I’m not the odd one out.”

“That’s why there’s four of us!” Morgan interjected. 

“It’s good Bryce! You should try it,” Chuck urged him after a bite if the ice cream. He spooned up a bit of ice cream along with some toppings. “Here.”

Neal leaned forward, letting Chuck feed him the ice cream. He could taste the flavor of the ice cream, salted caramel, with a bit of nuts and a small piece of gummy bear. “It  _ is _ good.” It’s a bit sweeter than he’s used to, but still tasty nonetheless. 

Alex took a spoonful of the ice cream. “There’s plenty to go around.”

-.-

“Need some help?” 

Neal glanced over his shoulder and saw Alex standing at the entrance to the kitchen. “Thanks. Can you watch the pot while I do this one last thing for the pasta?”

“Just stir it?”

“Yes, slowly without stopping. We can’t let the sauce burn.”

“Seems easy enough,” she said. “Chuck and Morgan would have offered but they have since been banned in touching the stove.” She paused. “Or so I’ve heard.”

“Can I get a story on that?” Neal flipped over the shrimp. 

“It was on thanksgiving,” she says, starting to smile at the memory. “Ellie was sick so she wasn’t able to cook her specialties. Chuck and Morgan took it upon themselves to attempt to cook it for her.” She shook her head, unable to hold back a grin. “The look on Sarah and my dad’s faces when they see the kitchen flooded with smoke was hilarious!” She laughed. “I think that was the first time I’ve ever heard my dad tell a joke.”

Neal chuckled at her story. “Casey telling a joke? I can’t imagine that.” He mixed in the other ingredients for the pasta one by one. 

“Well it sounds made up, but it happened. He said, and I quote, “I swear, you're more of a threat to yourself than the RING could ever be.””

Neal would have commented on Casey’s joke, but something else popped out at him. “RING?” He questioned, turning the stove off. 

Alex’s smile fell. “I shouldn’t have said that,” she said quietly. “Just forget I said anything.”

“What’s the RING?” Neal pried. “They won’t tell me anything.”

“Chuck said it’s best you remember it yourself.”

“Please Alex. I just want  _ anything _ to help me remember.  _ Nothing _ has been working so far. Not even our old pictures together.” 

Alex sighed. “Well,” she glanced at the doorway, checking to see if they were alone. “I don’t know much or of any details,” she says quietly. “But Morgan says the RING played a huge part in everything. Everything as in Chuck and Morgan’s secret job, why Sarah and Casey are here, and how it played a part in your’s and Chuck’s relationship. I don’t know anything else besides that.”

With how limited his knowledge of Bryce Larkin is, knowing those about the RING doesn’t help, but at least he knows that the RING is something that exists. 


	14. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> implied consensual sex

_ Alex sighed. “Well,” she glanced at the doorway, checking to see if they were alone. “I don’t know much or of any details,” she says quietly. “But Morgan says the RING played a huge part in everything. Everything as in Chuck and Morgan’s secret job, why Sarah and Casey are here, and how it played a part in your’s and Chuck’s relationship. I don’t know anything else besides that.” _

_ With how limited his knowledge of Bryce Larkin is, knowing those about the RING doesn’t help, but at least he knows that the RING is something that exists. _

-.-

Neal’s been in Burbank for a few weeks now. He’s settled into a new schedule now and has made a few calls back to New York every once in awhile. It’s different than what he’s used to. When in New York, he was able to run around with Peter, wearing suits, solving cases and doing borderline-legal things. But here in Burbank, he’s wearing shirts and jeans, working nine to fives, and living a married life. 

Neal’s not as active as he would have liked, but at least he’s moving non-stop with no desk job. And there’s a significantly less risk to his life there and he even gets to have some free time for his art. So there’s a huge bonus.

“So I know you don’t really like football anymore,” Devon says when they’re seated down. “But I still think today’s going to be a good bonding experience for us.”

“I agree,” Neal says. Though, he feels slightly out of place with his plain Henley, jeans, and sneakers when everyone else is wearing sports jerseys or painted faces or some other thing that lets everyone know what team they’re rooting for.

“Glad you agree!” He said with a grin.

Neal watched the game, hearing everyone around him scream in joy or shout in anger whenever something happened. He’s not sure what appealed to him before but he apparently liked it, so maybe he would now? Though honestly, he wasn’t really paying that much attention to it. 

His attention was divided between Devon and what had happened that morning, though it was mostly about what happened. 

A lot of things happened in his dream, too many to focus on. But what stuck out the most was Chuck’s look of betrayal, hurt, and hatred as he stared at him. He looked pretty young, so he’s pretty sure that happened when they were in college. Neal remembered feeling hurt when he stared back at him. He remembers not going after him as Chuck turned his back and left the building, everyone else in that room completely silent. 

Neal doesn’t know what he did that granted getting a look like that from Chuck. It was obvious from that one part that it would be the last time he saw Chuck. 

Only, that it wasn’t. 

He was married to Chuck now and got to see him everyday. 

Neal had so many questions but so few answers. 

“Something on your mind?” Devon asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

“Sorry?” Neal says, a little confused. Had he really been that obvious?

“You looked a little worried and I thought that you could get it off your chest,” Devon paused. “But only if you want to.”

“I just remembered something this morning,” Neal confesses. Because why should he hide this? Maybe Devon might even tell him.

“Awesome!” Devon exclaimed. “What’s the problem?”

“It’s just that the thing I remembered has been bothering me,” Neal says. “In my dream, Chuck and I were in college. And, he-” Neal hesitated, pausing for a moment. “He looked at me with the most hurtful look as if he hated me. But I don’t know what happened, what I  _ did _ to cause that.” Neal stared at him. “I know Chuck said it was better for me to remember it myself, but  _ what _ happened Devon?”

“Well,” Devon hesitated, an obvious reluctant expression on his face. “I uh-”

Neal sighs. “You don’t have to tell me,” he says. “I just needed someone to know. But just please don’t tell Chuck, I know he’d be devastated to hear that it’s not going as we planned.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell him,” he says. “But I really think you should tell him. Maybe it’s best to try an alternative, like therapy, hypnosis, or just let time bring it back. Because memories don’t come back all at once.”  **(1)**

“It doesn’t?” Neal asked him. “Even if it takes a very long time?” Hearing that from him, especially since he had medical knowledge and is a  _ doctor, _ relieved him. 

“It will take time, Bryce,” he reassured him. “I didn’t know you felt this way, just talk about this to us, dude.”

Neal gave a small smile, some tension lifting from him. “Thanks,” he says. “But I still want to know about that dream I had.”

“Well,” Devon says. “I was there in the aftermath but Chuck doesn’t really talk about it much. I’m still pretty unclear on what happened myself.”

“What happened?” 

“Chuck said that you framed him for cheating, got him kicked out of college and stole his girlfriend.”

Neal stared at him, horrified. “I  _ did _ that?” 

“Well,  _ yeah  _ but-” 

“No wonder Chuck looked as if he hated me,” he frowned. “And he still married me?”

“Keep in mind that Chuck didn’t know the whole story,” Devon says. “He later said that it was completely justified. He said you did it to protect him.”

“I-” Neal paused, trying to think how that related. “Don’t understand. How was that protecting him?”

Devon shrugged. “He never said. Honestly? Morgan would know more than I do.”

-.-

Neal and Devon got back to his house before noon. It was too early for lunch according to Devon, so they just went back. 

Devon parked his car and they both went in. “Today was fun, thanks,” Neal says. “Even though I still don’t like Football, it was fun.”

“Anytime dude.”

Neal turned the light on. Before stepped inside, poppers go off and a loud chorus of “surprise” sounds out. 

Neal looks around, surprised at everything. He had no clue what any of this was for. He feels a slap on his back, followed by Devon saying “happy birthday dude.”

Neal looks around, seeing everyone he his family from Burbank there (yes, even Casey) along with Peter and El.

“What do you think?” Chuck stands in front of him, a smile on his face. “You didn’t really like celebrating before but I thought maybe we could now.” He pauses. “Only if you want to though.”

“I’d love to, Chuck,” he says. “I uh, didn’t actually know it was my birthday though. I thought it was in March.”

“Oh well,” Chuck says thoughtfully. “Then that must mean you don’t remember a lot of dates. I’ll let you know if any are coming up soon.”

“When’s your birthday?”

“September 18, 1981.”

“Last month? We missed it by a few days.”

“Well, what can you do?” Chuck shrugged it off. “There’s always next year.”

“And our wedding anniversary?” 

“March 21,” Chuck says.

“The twenty-first?” Neal asked, a bit surprised. “That’s when I thought my birthday was.”

“Maybe that’s where you got it from?”

“Maybe.”

“Well, I don’t to keep you from seeing Peter and Elizabeth again,” Chuck says. “You should go say hi.”

Neal smiled. “Thank you, Chuck.” He knew the other man had done this for him and he was really happy for it.

Chuck gave a smile as Neal turned to make his way over to them. 

“How’s freedom been treating you?”

“Honestly? It felt a little weird at first to not wear the anklet. It was as if something was missing.”

“Well, you better get used to it.”

-.-

“You left a lot of stuff back in New York,” Peter says. “So we brought some of it over with us to give you.” He motioned toward the basement door. “We brought the remaining wine that Mozzie hadn’t consumed and put it in your basement. You have quite the collection in there.”

“They’re mostly cheap wines and a few forgeries. Some are pretty good though, so good that I’m hesitant to open it.”

“June insisted to give you some of Byron’s old suits, saying that it was yours now,” El says. “Mozzie also wanted to give you something but it’s coming later.”

“I uh, kinda got you something too,” Morgan says with a big grin on his face. The expression on his face just  _ screamed _ trouble. “Awesome and I left it in the bedroom for you and Chuck.” He quickly left before Neal could say anything. 

“You and Chuck?” Peter questioned. “Did he just give you c-”

“Please don’t,” Neal interrupted, raising his hand. “I don’t want to ever hear that come out of your mouth.”

-.-

“I’m glad you two came here,” Neal says when the lunch party was nearing the end. “It means a lot.”

“Honestly? We were quite surprised when we were invited,” Peter tells him. 

“Especially when we thought your birthday was in March,” El adds.

“It was a surprise to me too,” Neal says, taking a glance at Chuck. It seemed like he was talking about something with Sarah, Morgan, and Casey. It looked like serious business so he’s pretty sure it was government business. 

He looks back at them. 

“So how’s the married life?” El asked. “Maybe we can go on a double date one of these days.”

“Chuck’s pretty busy,” Neal says. “But I’d like that.”

“Hey, uh Bryce?” 

Neal looks at Chuck.

“Did you maybe want to spend some time with them alone? You have a lot to catch up on.”

Neal knew that it was Chuck’s subtle way of telling him that he couldn’t be around because of something somewhere else. There was also that apologetic look in his eyes that made it obvious. 

“Nonsense,” El says. “You don’t have to leave because of us.”

“No, I uh just want Bryce to have some uninterrupted time with his friends.”

“Alright,” Neal says. “Have dinner with us?”

“Of course.”

-.-

“What have you been doing in your spare time? Nothing illegal I hope,’” Peter asked him. 

“Of course not, Peter,” he says. “I’m a changed man, I’d never do such a thing.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“If you must know, I’ve been painting,” Neal says. “And before you ask, they’re originals.”

“Really?” El asks. “May we see?”

“It’s in the room,” Neal stands, leading them to his art room. It was actually storage for their video games but there had been a lot of spare space that Neal started to store his art supplies and paintings there. 

Peter and El follow after him. 

Neal opens the door to the room, walking toward his paintings. “That one is still drying,” he pointed to the painting of Chuck on the easel. “The rest are here.” 

The rest of his paintings were mostly of the landscape around the house. Very rarely would he go out and paint something, and even then, they were usually small. Some others were also of Chuck and sometimes the others too. 

“You have a lot of talent, Neal,” Peter complimented. “It’s a lot better than your forgeries, that’s for sure.”

“They’re good, Neal,” El says. “I really like them.”

“Thanks. I have a lot more free time now to work on it as much as I want.”

“Ever considered selling some of your paintings?” Peter asked as he looked at one of a fountain. “I’m sure people would be interested.”

Neal looked unsure. He hadn’t really thought of that before, he just did it because he wanted to. “I don't know,” he says unsurely. “Would people actually be interested?”

“Of course.  _ We’re _ interested.”

Neal stared at his paintings. “Maybe I’ll do it one day.”

-.-

Neal sat next to Chuck. He had prepared for them a steak dinner with artichoke and spinach salad on the side, a glass of water for all. 

Neal smiled to himself as Chuck easily conversed with Peter and El. He was happy to know that they got along. He suspected that Chuck and Peter would get along due to their similar personalities, but seeing it reassured him. 

-.-

“Thank you for today, Chuck.”

“Anything for you,” he says softly, a smile on his face. Chuck stared back at him, looking the happiest he has ever been. 

After today, Neal was feeling a lot better about everything. He didn’t feel as if the weight of the world was on him anymore, he was much more relaxed and at ease. 

“Chuck,” he says softly, looking very much serious. “I’m ready.”

After seeing Morgan and Devon’s gift for him and Chuck, it really got him thinking. He has thought of it ever since Jeff brought it up the first week he was there. He wasn’t ready then, but now? He is sure of it. 

“Huh?” He looked at him with a slightly confused expression.

When Neal had seen Chuck’s expression when he saw the gift, he knew Chuck was thinking about it too. The red flush on his face, the subtle look of lust in his eyes, and the lingering look.

“I want to make sure you are too.” Neal stared at him, watching his every expression. 

Chuck’s expression goes from confusion to realization to surprise to want. “Yes, I do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1): I looked this up and I’m not entirely sure.


	15. Chapter 14

_ “You missed a semicolon.” _

_ Chuck stared at their code, scanning the lines that showed up on screen. He didn’t seem to get it so Bryce repeated himself. _

_ “It’s inside the menu function,” Bryce says.  _

_ “Oh!” He exclaims, now seeing his error. “Thanks, Bryce! I don’t know what I’d do without you.” _

_ “You’d be horribly lost without me,” Bryce grinned to himself, looking back at his half of the functions he was working on. “You also wouldn’t be able to finish your own version of Zork.” _

_ “ _ Our _ version of Zork,” Chuck corrected. “And it isn’t even Zork anymore; the only thing they have in common is that they’re both text-based games.” _

_ “What do you want to call it then?”  _

_ “I dunno,” Chuck says with a shrug. “Have anything in mind?” _

_ “Sci Fi Adventures in Outerspace?” Bryce said with a shrug. _

_ “That’s a horrible name.” _

_ “It’s straight to the point, isn’t it?” _

_ “Yeah, but it also describes every sci-fi movie ever made.” _

_ “It does  _ not _.” _

_ “Fine, it doesn’t, but it might as well be.” Chuck paused. “You also misspelled print.” _

-.-

Neal wakes up the next morning, still hugging Chuck in his sleep. He smiles to himself, refusing to move. They cleaned up last night after some fun activities and, like every other night, cuddled all night long.

Neal didn’t want to wake Chuck up, but he still was perfectly content in that position. 

-.-

“Hey uh, Bryce?” 

Neal knew this was something serious by the hesitance and nervousness in Chuck’s voice. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s probably not as bad as you’re thinking but,” Chuck hesitated. “My uh, our parents found out you’re back. They want to see you.”

Neal remembers the picture of them two together with two other, older people. But the thought of actually meeting them? He felt both anxious and excited to see them. “Know when they’ll get here?”

“Who knows with them,” Chuck said with a shrug. “But all I know, is that it’s going to be soon.”

-.-

Neal didn’t know when to expect them but he was getting ready. He was asking Chuck and the others about what to do. For the most part, it was pretty similar things.

Chuck just said to be himself, which,  _ not _ helpful.

Casey and Sarah said to be cautious and not too carefree. Which meant that he had to be the exact opposite of himself.

Morgan and Awesome said to be outstanding, which was very vague and unhelpful.

Ellie was pretty much the only one that was helpful. She said that it was useless to try and get their mom’s approval and that their dad liked him just fine, that he didn’t really have to do much. 

Neal still felt nervous to meet them.

So he calmed himself down and painted something, trying to calm himself down. Neal was alone, Chuck had been out on mission briefing again, so hearing a soft noise had him on high alert. 

Neal stopped, looking around, on high alert. He quietly sets down his paintbrush, trying not to make a sound. 

“Good, you haven’t forgotten.”

Neal sees a woman step into the living room, having a small smile on her face. He immediately recognized her as the same person in the photo. Meaning that was Mrs. Bartowski.

Mr. Bartowski steps in behind her. “Hello Bryce.”

“Hi,” he says hesitantly. “Mr and Mrs Bartowski.”

“Please, Mary,” she says. 

“Just Stephen, Bryce,” he corrected. 

“Alright.” Neal doesn’t say anything, not sure what to say or do. “Chuck’s away at-”

“A mission in Castle,” Mary finishes. “We know.”

“We assume Chuck told you we were coming?” Stephen asked. 

“He did,” he answered. “Would either of you like a drink or a snack? I could get it for you.”

“We won’t be here for long, we’re only here to have a talk with you.”

“Chuck tells us you have amnesia?” Stephen asked him. “What don’t you remember?”

“Or rather, what  _ do _ you remember?”

“Not much,” he says honestly. “But some of it is coming back to me in my dreams.”

“Care to explain?”

“I remember that Chuck and I met at Stanford, he was studying and I came up to him. I remember our first dance, why you hate me, and,” he paused. “And the face of the man who shot me.”

“That’s all you remember?” She asked, not fazed by his statement of her hating him. 

Neal nodded. “I’ve been trying whatever I can to remember.”

“Including your FBI friend, correct?”

Neal isn’t even going to ask  _ how _ they knew about that. He could tell they were both very secretive and had a lot of power from just  _ standing _ near them. 

“This is the one you want,” she held out the case in her hand. “The one they gave you is far from accurate and complete. They don’t have access to what he have.”

Neal doesn’t hesitate and grabs the case from her.

“I may also have something that could help,” Stephen offered. “I have a theory and there should be no harm in trying this.”

Neal stared at him curiously. “What is it?”

“I can’t tell you what it is, you have to remember it yourself, but you just have to watch something.” 

“I can do that,” he says. But he wasn’t sure how a video would help. “We can sit at the table-”

“You’re going to need a more comfortable place than that,” he interrupted. “A bed or a couch would work.”

“Okay,” he says unsurely. “Then the living room.”

Neal sits on the couch, noticing they were still standing. Stephen placed a laptop on the coffee table. He quickly does a few things on it before turning it around to face Neal. 

“Do not take your eyes off this screen.”

Neal watches the screen, seeing it flash on when Stephen presses a button.

-.-

“Bryce? Bryce.”

He opens his eyes, not even aware of when he had fallen asleep. He sits up, noticing that he was laying down. He remember sitting down and staring at the screen when Stephen and Mary were there. 

“Chuck?” 

Now it’s evening and Chuck is staring back at him. He glances around, trying to see where they had gone, but he only sees the unchanged room, empty of the computer that had once been there with a card in its place. 

“What are you doing asleep on the couch?” He stared at him in confusion. Chuck picked up the card. “And what is this?” He frowned a little, reading it. “Did mom and dad leave this?” He holds it out to him to take.

Bryce takes it, reading it off. “Contact us if you remember. If you don’t we’ll know it didn’t work.”

“They came by today?” 

He tried to remember what happened that day, still feeling a bit groggy. “I uh, I’m pretty sure they did.”  

“You’re “ _ pretty sure _ ” they came over?” He stared at him in concern. “What did they  _ do _ to you?” He steps closer, checking his forehead for his temperature.

“I’m fine Chuck,” he insisted. “Your mom gave me some files and your dad showed me a video. After that, I don't remember anything.”

“ _ Our, _ ” Chuck corrected. “And what was the video about?”

“I don’t know. I remember him pressing a button to play a video, then I just wake up here with you.”

“I’m not sure what they showed you but do you feel different somehow? Remember anything, forgot anything?”

“I don’t know how I’d know if I forgot something but I surely didn’t remember anything.”

“Well, you’re acting a bit more like yourself now,” Chuck noted. “Less Neal-like and more Bryce-like.”

Bryce frowned a little. “What?”

“At least you’re remembering.”

“I- okay?”

“So where’d you put the files?”

“I think I left it in the storage room.”

“Okay, then we can go over them now if you want. I can help clear things up if you need it.”

“Okay.”

**Author's Note:**

> Comment please.  
> Let me know if you want to see some more of their past and I shall write it.  
> 


End file.
